Farm Security meeting on June 8th at our sugarhouse in Skowhegan

[Revi]

We are having a meeting at 7pm on June 8th at the Chez Lonndorf Maple Sugarhouse on the Burrill Hill road in Skowhegan. We have had a lot of vandalism problems and have taken measures to protect the sugarhouse. We'll discuss them and then have an open discussion on what people can do to protect sugarhouses and other remote agricultural operations. There has been a lot of metal theft lately. Officer Blodgett from Skowhegan PD will be there as well as other farmers who are involved in the Transition Skowhegan group. Any of you Maple Traders who want to come are invited as well. If you have info on camera systems and things that you have tried at your farm please let us know. More info at:474-7370

To find the sugarhouse, take exit 132 off of Rt. 95, take a left off the exit ramp onto 139, take it 12.2 miles, turn right onto the Burrill Hill Road and the sugarhouse is 2.2 miles on the right at the Skowhegan Town Line. If coming from the north, take 139, go a half mile south of Norridgewock, and turn left onto Burrill Hill Road.

[Revi]

That's a Wednesday. Bring bug repellent, as we'll be outside for some of the time.

[Revi]

Things have gotten better out there, but recently the guy who used to have parties and shoot up our maple sugarhouse got out of jail. He spun his tires and put dirt on the shack a couple of times, so I had the cops go over and talk to him. Then I noticed that someone had put entrails on a fence near the tree farm sign. I think they were turkey, but I can't be sure. I pulled them off and threw them in the woods, but it really makes me think that they are trying to tell me something. I am beginning to feel like Will Smith in Legend. The zombies come out and do wierd and destructive things. At least they aren't shooting the place up any more.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Maine has some big woods and people get lost there all the time and are never found:evil:

[CBOYER]

Bears like "maple syrup on tied burglar" in far woods:evil::evil:

[500592]

Sounds like those people need a good kick in the but

[Revi]

They definitely need a good kick in the butt. I hope they are getting it. I think they are back in jail. I've got my game camera on now, and would love to catch them in the act of doing something. I'm not the only one who is having trouble around here. A lot of people are losing metal, and there is a lot of vandalism. I think we need to do something to protect our operations. It's a drag, but we'd be out of business without the things we've done.

[Revi]

I'm thinking of getting this system:

http://www.securitycamerasandmore.com/swann-security-4-channel-dvr-2-indoor-outdoor-cameras.aspx

Anyone know anything about these systems? I am thinking of a 2 camera system, but it says it can expand to 4.

A friend is doing some logging this winter out there, so I'd like to have a system in place to protect his skidder and such.

It says you can set it to motion detection mode and use a lot less of the SD card. I imagine it is not too bad to check it with an SD card reader.

As Robert Frost said, good fences make good neighbors. This is just a high tech fence in my opinion.

[Revi]

We had eight people come to the meeting. We checked out the things we have done, then talked about what others had done. It was a great meeting. I think it's a great thing to talk about, but the subject scares a lot of people. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We have places where we produce food. Food is getting more and more expensive, and soon we'll have some of the few places where it's produced. Sugar is the most concentrated form of energy. Maple syrup is the best, so it will be more and more in demand. We need to protect what we have or we'll be out of business.

We discussed camera systems and fencing among other things.

All in all a very productive meeting.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

We discussed camera systems and fencing among other things.

All in all a very productive meeting.

I hope it is electrified fencing and the camera to watch the poor sap enjoy his night out:evil:

[twitch]

we have had some metal theft on our farm to caught the last ones red handed at the scrap yard with or stuff. I tell you what they got and ear full from my old man and they were **** lucky there was a cop there or they may not have left in one piece. This economy breads theives. Not much work and high scrap prices.

[Revi]

That's awesome that you caught them!

There has been a lot of metal theft around here too.